Connecticut western news., 1887-01-26
D SOCIETY IN WYOMING,
Wr. Pntten's Fancy Dress Ball Brought to . u Sudden but Not T,timeIy End.
Lander Letter to the $. r. Examiner. I

Lander Letter to the $. r. Exanncr.[
 There are two entirely separate grades of society in this place, divided by 8 hard and fass line which is never known to be broken, except on one occasion, and that IS at fancy dress ball. The top society here is composed of the fol- lowing parts given in sort of descend ing scale: Cattlemen, store and hotel keepers, the wagon builder, the black smith and the editor of the Corhscrear, with a parasitical following in the coun- ter jumpers of the stores, one printer of the (orAscTeto and a few privileged grangers, whose eligibility has been regulated by the extent of their income. Such is the high court of Lander, which feels itself considerably disgraced on an ordinary occasion by being found i'll company with the common herd of sa- loon keepers, cowpoys, half-breeds and gamblers. The common herd takes sat- isfaction for this in turning in on itself and looking down on a large contingent, which may be classed under the one head of "Whlskey Bums," and these have only the poor consolation of look ing down on themselves as between in dividual and individual.
 
 The spacious hall of the skating rink, brilliantly lighted with eight coal oil lamps, badly trimmed; the strains of delightful music proceeding from an ac- cordion, fiddle and cornet, whose play yers, even at this early stage of the proceed. ings, were showing signs of extreme wearlness. Then the brilliant array of fashion and beauty footing it round on the floor, and tantalizingly masked and dressed in every imaginable costume which could be rung in to serve for the occasion, from the simple but tasteful red flannel suit of underclothes to the specially made costume represen ing q wife of our most prominent cattleman. In this great carnival the trespassiDg of enc sex on the dress of tho other was quite admissible and J1m Barwood, the renowned faro dealer, attired in all the simple elegance of a Mother Hubbard costume, which refused to meet at the back by several inches and was raised up to an almost indecent height i'll front by having so much of the length taken up to accommodate itself to the rise and fall of that part of his body which ob- structed his view of his feet, was greatly admired.
 At 12 o'clock we all proceeded, having l first secured a lady apiece, to walk her out of the hall across the street and about three blocks down 1t to supper l through snow about foot and a half thick. Supper over, back again to keep it up till daylight, only that now the order was given to unmask for the rest of the evening. A prominent visiting lawyer proceeded to dance the can.can during the progress of one of the qua drilles, and most of tho quiet people were thinking it about time to repair to their homes, when the whole business was brought to termination with lit- tie sensation.
 About year before this very com mon thing happened a gambler mur- dcred his partner. The law immediate ly seized him and as soon let him go again on the production of $1, 900 bonds to wait for his trial, get away, or please himself entirely what he did. As his trial was not likely to come off for a year or two he decided to remain on the scene and chose this night to bring himself once more before the notice of the public-interest in him having rather died out. It was about three in the morning when the aforesaid murderer, with six-shooter in each hand and d string of oaths, stepped into the middle of the hall and said he had come to clear the floor, as he wanted the show to himself for @ little while. Perhaps there were one hundred and fifty people left when he appeared, and the door was narrow, but when the noise of the first shot, with the crash of broken glass from several lamp chimneys, fell upon the crowd, it seemed about the work Of a couple of seconds before he was mas- ter of the situation. This naturally concluded the evenings entertainment, and the ladies having been fired into their different domiciles, and the men sitting down to various game ot DO CT, Lander society once more settled down
 to its normal condition.